New York City!

[Atlantagaguy]

I just spent a week in NYC. Is Hell’s Kitchen the new up and coming gay area? Seems like a lot more gay bars and clubs and more opening, a good mix of age groups of locals and tourist in the area. I really enjoyed the neighborhood!

[citylaw1]

It really is.

[Atlantagaguy]

Plus some really fun and great restaurants!

[Kevin Slater]

I just spent a week in NYC. Is Hell’s Kitchen the new up and coming gay area? Seems like a lot more gay bars and clubs and more opening, a good mix of age groups of locals and tourist in the area. I really enjoyed the neighborhood!

 

Yes.

 

Kevin Slater

[tealady]

the nick name is

 

hellsea

 

hells ... Chelsea add together to get

 

hellsea

[+ Charlie]

I lived in Hell's Kitchen before it became gay. I lived in Chelsea before it became gay. Is there a pattern here?

[RockHard]

Hell's Kitchen gay?

 

I lived in Hell's Kitchen before it became gay.

 

I had an actor friend who lived on West 48th Street between 9th and 10th in the early 80's. He was the only gay white guy on the block (that I could see), the only resident who didn't speak Spanish. I thought the walk-up building was a hell-hole, and I thought he was too lazy to look for something better. Rental prices were not awful in those days, but when mommy and daddy are footing the bill, and son doesn't want to wait tables, you take what you take. Some actors foolishly think, if you live in Hell's Kitchen, you're more likely to make it in the theater.

 

Like many NYC neighborhoods in the last 20 years, Hell's Kitchen has grown more upscale. Many buildings have been refurbished, or gutted to accommodate plenty of new structures. A residential feel is back (on certain blocks), but you're still just a short walk from the intense Port Authority bus station and from the ever-packed-with-tourists-and-cars Theater District. Bumper-to-bumper traffic down 9th Avenue is quite commonplace at all hours these days. The limited charm one can find in Hell's Kitchen can be overwhelmed by the huge commercial hub surrounding it. (Not to mention the Times-Warner Center at Columbus Circle and Javits.)

 

I find the people on the streets of Hell's Kitchen to be quite mixed. The gay implosion is less apparent to me because gay is in every neighborhood here. You just have to open your eyes. The aspect of the neighborhood that stands out to me most is how successful most people look, and how diverse the residents are, in age, gender, and nationality.

[Damascene]

I moved to Hells Kitchen (or Hellsea or HK) in 1992. It was always the up and coming gay neighborhood since I've been here. If it was not for the development of 10th and 11th Avenues, we would be entering the straight people ossification that hit the Village and then Chelsea.

 

However, RockHard is right. We are in every neighborhood. Astoria has a vibrant LGBT community. Bushwick and Harlem have prides. If the trend continues, we will have no gay ghettoes in NYC. We will be a homogenized into society. In a way, I find that sad.

[RockHard]

we will have no gay ghettoes in NYC...In a way, I find that sad.

 

I'm not Jewish or Black, and I despise the term "ghetto." Nothing breeds personification of a stereotype quite the same way.

 

I think pockets of multi-culturalism spread out can be more fun. Gays living and opening businesses in a variety of neighborhoods can liven life up and reach more people. Having fun choices of where to hang out is a good thing.

 

I love the idea that gay men and women have assimilated into all corners of New York City. What's going on in Brooklyn is absolutely amazing, and some of the hottest gay boys are living and working in the East Village/Lower East Side.

 

My building in the center of Manhattan, just south of 14th Street, has always had a great mix of cultures. The cooking smells alone are enough to drive any food lover into instant ecstasy. The rendezvousing at the mailbox or in the lobby can often feel like I live in Europe. And the views from my terrace (or provided on my terrace), my god, it's international porn with a bit of Hitchcock. I love it.

[operalover21]

I just spent a week in NYC. Is Hell’s Kitchen the new up and coming gay area? Seems like a lot more gay bars and clubs and more opening, a good mix of age groups of locals and tourist in the area. I really enjoyed the neighborhood!

 

Yes, some of the best NYC-based escorts live there.

[+ Axiom2001]

I'm not Jewish or Black, and I despise the term "ghetto." Nothing breeds personification of a stereotype quite the same way.

 

I think pockets of multi-culturalism spread out can be more fun. Gays living and opening businesses in a variety of neighborhoods can liven life up and reach more people. Having fun choices of where to hang out is a good thing.

 

I love the idea that gay men and women have assimilated into all corners of New York City. What's going on in Brooklyn is absolutely amazing, and some of the hottest gay boys are living and working in the East Village/Lower East Side.

 

My building in the center of Manhattan, just south of 14th Street, has always had a great mix of cultures. The cooking smells alone are enough to drive any food lover into instant ecstasy. The rendezvousing at the mailbox or in the lobby can often feel like I live in Europe. And the views from my terrace (or provided on my terrace), my god, it's international porn with a bit of Hitchcock. I love it.

 

...interesting thread. I wholeheartedly concur with the above sentiments! Thanks, RockHard!

[+ Tom Isern]

...yes, the most interesting and attractive neighborhoods are always the ones with the greatest variety of successful-looking people.